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    Legal Advice - My sister is wanting my kid after I die

    January 25, 2020

    Legal Advice - My sister is wanting my kid after I die

    My sister is wanting my kid after I die

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 09:23 AM PST

    I have always been straight forward and let everyone know that my son is to go to my best friend when I pass away if he is still underage.

    His dad and that side of the family are absolute trash— toxic, bigoted, racist, always the victim, entitled jerks. My side is mostly old and disabled except for my sister. She's in college, has a good job, doing well. However, she's kinda a terrible person. She's also extremely introverted and gets drained easily. My son is 4 and special needs. I 100% do not think she'd be mentally and emotionally equipped to handle him.

    She's saying when I die and Son is still underage she's going to go against my dying wish, my wants, and my very thorough decision of what's best for my son. She says she's going to court for kinship if I die or whatever, maybe even now.

    What can I do to protect my son? He'd be best in my best friend's and I've thought about it for years and it's never changed.

    Thanks everyone for any help that can be provided.

    EDIT: Wanted to add some additional context:

    1 Dad is registered sex offender, against a minor female. My son does not fit the age or sex of his "preferred victim type." He's trying to be a better dad, so I've allowed more visitation based on that. The situation with his crime is... complicated.

    2 Dad is not financially sound to take care of Son. He doesn't know how to budget or save. He's currently in one of those rooming apartments and usually can't pay his phone bill in a timely fashion, if that gives you any indication of his ability to take care of a child let alone himself.

    3 Probably can't marry friend because she in love and eventually wants to marry her partner. So no Chuck and Larry kinda thing going to happen there.

    4 Friend is 100% on board about taking Son when I pass. Family... family is not because "faaaaamily should be with faaaaamily" even if they aren't equipped to do so. Especially my Mother and Grandmother, think I'm not choosing my sister because I don't love her or some BS like that and refuse to listen to my argument and reasonings. All of them are stubborn and feel insulted that I chose an outsider.

    5 Sister thinks she's stable enough to handle him. She's fallen asleep watching him and he wasn't there by her because he left to go to a different apartment. (My mother and grandmother live kitty corner across the hallway from each other in the same building. Sister was visiting). I just know, as he's getting older and his, erm, needs are getting more pronounced and defined, she wouldn't be able to handle his outbursts or special attention.

    6 I am dying, slowly, but most likely won't make it through another decade. Also, in case of a fatal accident, I want him to be protected.

    7 I am sure if it's between Friend and Sister, Dad would 100% pick Friend. However he might want his family to take Son. Which, would be catastrophic. They are absolutely a terrible fit for taking care of him, given their track record with him.

    EDIT 2: Decision.

    1 I am going to have Friend more involved with Son's life, we live in a different city but I'm going to make sure she's put forward with involvement. Also, not going to marry her. Unfortunately. It just doesn't seem like the right step.

    2 I'm going to see about estate and family lawyers in my area to: A. To see about making sure Friend is Son's guardian after I pass B. Making sure Sister and Dad's family don't get him

    Thank you everyone

    submitted by /u/kidacakes
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    Code bootcamp preys on minorities and tricks them into indentured servitude

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 04:49 AM PST

    TLDR: I got tricked into signing an income share agreement. Didn't receive anything that was promised. Now the school wants %12 of my income for three years and is threatening to sue me.

    I'm wondering if this is legal and whether I have any recourse against this "code school". I'd appreciate any laws or examples that could point me the right way. I just want to know if I have a case or not.

    Heres the story:

    I was living in public housing in NYC when they sent me an email featuring this is non profit code boot camp that would teach us to code at no upfront cost. ( they actually never mention what the cost is when courting us )

    It wasnt until after going through a days long interview process did we find out there was pay it forward agreement. Sort of like indentured servitude where if we get a job, they take a percentage of our money, usually called an ISA. I was reticent to sign, but there were two things: The pay it forward contract advertised helping future underserved minorities and poor people learn to code, and I was told I would have in depth training in computer science. I was told I would not find these computer science fundamentals on my own. I was also told I would have resources like a metro card to get there every day and a computer.

    What I actually recieved after signing the contract was far from what I was promised. My class was made of 36 students, and taught by 3 different teachers ( one per day usually). 2 of the "teachers" had graduated the program just the year before, and did not have a degree in computer science nor much industry experience, nor did they know anything about pedagogy and how to teach. The third teacher was a new grad with a computer science degree but he left halfway through. The PM who told me I would get training in computer science also left halfway through. Several other instructors and PMs in other classes left part ways through as well.

    About 1/3 of the time at this program was actually spent ( haphazardly ) learning how to code. The rest of the time was spent on professional development training where we were taught to write resumes, interview, and speak tech lingo (while having no real grasp of the tech concepts). We were then paraded in front of tech companies as minority hires. But that doesnt actually work in tech. You kind of need to actually know how to code. So the only option was to teach myself how to code in my spare time. The resources they used were just links from Google anyway, I felt like I could do a better job.

    The contract is written so that basically any job you get thats anywhere near a computer qualifies, which is almost any job. You just have to make more than 60K, and they will take %12 before taxes. And they spent a lot of time getting us to apply to jobs. Also the pay it forward part, which is described in the contract as helping future students learn to code, was actually a lie. None of the money goes to help anyone new, it all goes back to the programs investors. ( They're a non profit with investors that we have to pay back at 15x what its actually worth ) In 2019 they tried to get us to sign new contracts rebranding it to a bond. The bond removes the mention of helping future students and is more clear about paying back investors. I never signed this though.

    Also I received no computer and no metro card. I basically went into debt going to this program where I essentially taught myself to code whilst the administration enacted a comedy of errors. My credit score dropped over a hundred points and by the end I was late several payments.

    But my hard work actually did pay off and I was able to land an internship before the program ended. But many others were not able to and even if they got an internship, they were not able to keep up and get hired. I'm actually still teaching myself as theres just a vast amount I dont know.

    And now this boot camp is planning to sue me, along with others refusing to pay. They want 12% of my income ( before taxes ) for three years, which would likely cost more than an actual computer science degree almost anywhere. And I dont feel like I or any of the other students should have to pay.

    This program specifically targeted young minorites and women. They tricked us into signing away our paychecks then taught us how to get jobs so they can extort it back from us. They are registered as a non profit and recieve grants and donations to fund their program. Yet they want us to pay tens of thousands for 8months of resume writing classes.

    Is this legal? I mean we were so poor we'd sign just about anything to escape. And we trusted them because they were a non profit. Is there any way I can fight against this? I kind of want to get this company shut down, so they can't do this to more people.

    submitted by /u/indenturedTechServ
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    Victoria, Australia. Ex employer uses software I wrote while I worked there. I left more than two years ago and now they're demanding support and training for the software.

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 03:08 PM PST

    I worked at a business that among many other things does mailouts for small businesses in the region (things like membership renewals, statements, etc). In order to prepare the mailouts for the cheapest rates, we had to format addresses correctly with barcodes and group/sort the envelopes in batches that can be lodged with our local post office.

    I wrote a set of scripts that I used to make life a load easier; the scripts batch the envelope barcoding, sort into the same order as the inserts that had to match the envelopes, printed guide sheets that went with print batches that our finishing team could understand, and printed extra information on the envelopes that could be scanned with some other machines to allow variable size lodgments day by day as jobs progressed. It essentially took what would be six hours work for a 20,000 item mailout into about fifteen minutes work for me, saving a whole day's time before a new job could start being fed to post. It also allowed partial lodgments, instead of needing six days before the first items could be posted, they could start going out at the end of just one day.

    I knew how to use my set of scripts but they have no documentation. I also trained my co worker and she's no coder but was very competent using the scripts. I quit over another higher-up staff member's behaviour to a family member of mine at the end of 2017, and my co-worker quit just before Christmas 2019.

    Now the business is faced with about fifteen large mailouts to go out in early february and they have nobody who understands mailouts, nobody who knows how to use my software, and they are pretty much screwed. I also suspect they've probably not been updating the data my scripts use (the address to barcode database, which we obtain from an outside vendor and changes regularly).

    I was contacted by phone by their head manager (just under the owner) who wanted to know where documentation for my software was. I said I didn't do any, and I don't know if co-worker made any after I left. Manager said they can't contact co-worker. As there's no documentation, Manager said I have to come in to fix that and train people, and I simply don't have the time nor do I want to go near the business again. Manager said as it's my software and I'm the single point of origin for it, then I'm the one who needs to come in, and it's a legal requirement since I wrote it under employment with them. I said I don't think it is, and Manager said they'd have to look at legal options to compel me. (this happened over about three phone calls). In the last call on Friday two days ago he threatened to sue and I would be hearing from $business's-law-firm

    I signed nothing about the ownership of the scripts, and honestly don't care who uses them, but I don't want to be responsible for their upkeep. I'm a completely amateur coder who screwed around with applescript, perl and bash scripts and a little C to get something running. I had a really good idea of how the processes I had to work on for the mailouts worked, but my coding skills are mediocre and untidy at best. I think they'd be hell for anyone else to figure out what's happening and why I made the decisions I did, so I may be the only person who understands how my script system works underneath.

    Is any of this legally my problem? I was NOT hired as a coder or programmer. I was a workstation monkey and designer before getting shuffled into a coordinator role for mailouts which was when I wrote the scripts.

    submitted by /u/nosupportplease
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    [MA] I was just named as the defendant in a lawsuit... I was a toddler when the alleged incident happened.

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 09:55 AM PST

    This morning I woke up to papers saying that I had been served and I had been named as a defendant in a lawsuit,

    Some piece of property, apparently, was seized by a town in MA after non-payment of taxes in August of 2000. I was a toddler. I called my mother and she has no knowledge of this property; I was listed on the citation in name of my father, but to make this even weirder -- he died in 1997. I imagine he had little to do with this as well. My father's residence was in VT, I was raised in NY, currently live in CT. He lived in MA at one point, but decades in the past.

    The document states, "You have been named in the attached tax lien foreclosure Complaint filed by the Plaintiff. The complaint asks the Court to enter a judgement ending any right or interest you may have in the land listed on the next page of this citation, for failure to pay property taxes or charges. This is known as "foreclosing the right of redemption."

    The lawsuit was filed by some builder in Maine. The actual case says "City of [X] v. [Builder's name]"

    What the fresh hell is going on? Four other people were named along with me (one including my aunt). I don't recognise the other names.

    My father had interest in MA, but did not reside there. His interest was in the south of Boston, though (think Braintree), and this city is a bit a ways outside fo Boston and in the north of the state. To make this even more odd, when I put in the address of the alleged property, no address comes up. No street of that name in that city can be located. It also says the builder is the owner of the property on a different page -- so what gives? But also lists an owed amount as $150,000.

    This is real, because the lawyer offices are real, and it came via certified mail.

    Can any lawyer decipher this for me? I tried calling the courts, but its Saturday, so obviously I got no answer. I'm very confused. I am a broke college student who literally does not have enough money to pay rent, so this gives me a ton of anxiety.

    Edit: possible pertinent information: there was a trust established after my father's death since I was a newborn. There was not a lot of money in it, because he was not a wealthy man. Any money that survived is no longer in a "trust" but is just "my" money under my name, with no trust documents attached, as far as I'm aware. I rolled it into a retirement account because that was easiest. I think some still exists in a 529, but I imagine you can't sue for that.

    Edit: I did contact the deed office in the relevant county, listed on the document, because I cannot find either of the streets listed (no address, listed as "intersection of x and y") or the coordinates. Maybe they can shed some light on the information.

    submitted by /u/PintSizedHerzl
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    Bio mom found specific details of closed adoption

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 06:08 PM PST

    NM/USA

    I adopted my son about a year ago. He has a restraining order against his biological mother and has not been in contact with her for years. She has a history of stalking and harassing previous caregivers.

    She has recently started emailing my son's lawyer and my place of employment stating she intends to get him back. She includes details in the email that are specific to the adoption (the exact date, my age, address etc). My assumption is that she was able to get her hands on sealed documents.

    I reported the emails to the police but they say she has not done anything illegal yet... So there is not much they can do.

    I am beyond frustrated that she has been able to get her hands on this information... One of the officers I spoke to said I may be able to try a civil case to see how she got the details... I doubt this would get any where though... Suggestions?

    submitted by /u/z4yz4y
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    Dad Threatened to call CPS on me.

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 09:07 AM PST

    Hi, so I'm a 15 year old female who lives in Texas. To add a little context, I've been living with my grandma for a little under 2 years after my birth father threatened to kill me. My grandma never tried to get legal guardianship of me because he threatened her if she brought it to court. So this brings me to a few days ago when he messaged my grandma about a medical bill he received from when I went to a hospital. (I won't get into the message because it's too long) but the gist of it was that he wanted me back in his home by tomorrow, or he will call CPS and report me as a runaway. I'm scared to death of this man and I know if I go back to his home he'll kill me. I've already talked to my school about this, but the counselor doesn't think he'll go through with the threat. I also talked to the officers on campus and they said that on Monday they'll check their database to see if I'm reported as a runaway, and that they'll fix it. But I'm just concerned that I'll have to go to my birth fathers house.

    P.S: I'm really sorry if the grammar is not correct or if I'm rambling, I'm very scared and anxious at the moment and I'm hoping I can get some advice over what I can do.

    EDIT: Thank you to the people who are giving advice, but (for personal reasons) my family and I want to refrain from having CPS involved in my case (more than it already is).

    submitted by /u/Maggie_Marie
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    New house owners saying we owe them money

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 03:52 PM PST

    We sold a house awhile ago and recently the new owner called us and said we owe them money for some repairs needed on the house. They say we intentionally did not disclose the damages and are therefore liable for the cost of the repairs. We were unaware of these damages because they were in a difficult to access part of the house (think crawlspace). They are threatening to take us to court to get the money (and force is to pay for all the fees and costs associated with that). Is it actually our responsibility to pay for these costs? Can they actually take us to court? If we do end up going to small claims court, do we need a lawyer? They seem very set on the fact that we owe them this money. Please help, cause I just had a baby (with multiple health issues) and don't really have lots of money to spare.

    submitted by /u/mooandspot
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    My mom died last week and her husband will not comply with her will

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 06:13 PM PST

    N.H. My mom died last week and her husband is refusing to let me and my siblings collect what she left us in her will. She had a trust from her brother and everything she's willed to us she paid for out of the trust. Can I just go to his house with a police officer and get my things? Ty

    submitted by /u/Iloveolive66
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    (KY) Parents won’t give me my W-2

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 05:34 PM PST

    I got married earlier this year and moved in with my husband. I worked somewhere before I got married and left that job also before I got married. Because of that, they mailed my W-2 to my parents house. I went to go get it and my parents are refusing to give it to me for reasons unrelated. What are my legal options? My husband and I are trying to file our taxes and we can't with that.

    submitted by /u/taa16482
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    Middle school teacher wife accused of inappropriate relationship with 15 year old

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 03:16 PM PST

    I'm in dire need of help. Still in shock. I can't say where we live on account of not being recognized. My wife was placed on leave for investigation of an inappropriate relationship with one of her students. She has confessed to me how many times it happened and where and even at my home. Of course I am in shock and have no idea what the first steps are for me and my two children. Both under the age of 6. I love her. But I'm pretty sure I need to divorce. She says she will sign anything regarding custody, divorce, her debt, everything. I am unsure if I want to, or should help her in any way as we are sure charges are coming. Should I bail her out if and when she goes to jail? What do I tell my children? What do I need to do. Please help.

    submitted by /u/burner3844
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    Woman threatening to sue because of post in Facebook group I co-run (Quebec)

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 05:55 PM PST

    Hi all,

    So like the title says, I co-moderate a community Facebook group and last week a member of the group posted that he had quite working at a doggy day care because the owner was abusive towards the animals. Another co-worker of his chimed in that she had also worked there and confirmed the animal abuse by the owner and also called her a scam artist.

    Today I got a private message from the owner of the doggy day care saying we will hear from her lawyer if we don't take down the post. Can we be liable for defamation or anything else by keeping the post up?

    Thanks.

    submitted by /u/Possumlove1993
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    A medical professional that I've been treated by contacted me on facebook about a personal matter...

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 08:57 PM PST

    Trying to understand whether I'm dealing with an actual legal issue or just someone who needs some professional help...

    An FNP who both myself and my child have been seen by in Urgent Care (not our GP) works in the same office as my dad's girlfriend, who is an MD. They have beef, or something... the FNP is known for being unreasonable and frequently drunk and her marriage recently ended. She's mad (and likely drunk) and out for revenge it seems and has contacted me via Facebook to basically slander my dad's girlfriend for being "mean and scary" and, to summarize her words, she wants my dad to know ***things*** about his gf that would ostensibly drive them apart. This is so high school I can barely keep the vomit from escaping my mouth and I am mid-crafting a response to her that essentially says "you need to get some help, lady."

    I would rather not have the karma of potentially ruining her career by forwarding the incredible slew of messages to her boss, knowing that she'll likely accomplish the ruining on her own without my help. HOWEVER, something is nagging and saying "this isn't right" and while it definitely has something to do with a medical professional who has treated me contacting me to try to destroy my dad's only decent relationship in his life, I can't quite put my finger on whether this is a legal issue or not.

    This lady messaged me the next morning, saying "I hope you realize that if you mention this to girlfriendMD I will have hell to pay." I haven't responded and am mildly enjoying the thought that she's probably freaking out right now, but would appreciate any advice here about how to proceed. Thanks in advance.

    submitted by /u/gorbutty
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    Is it possible to edit a trademarked logo’s aspect ratio? Getting different answers online and don’t want to mess up.

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 06:57 PM PST

    So when I originally uploaded my logo to file for trademark I uploaded my own aspect ratio to USPTO's website and it kind of smushed the aspect ratio together because the website only accepts up to a certain size. I never bothered faking the time to adjust it because I wanted to file it ASAP and get it done considering it would take about 8 months to get.

    Now if I'd like to correct the aspect ratio of the logo so it doesn't look as squished together since my real logo is more spaced out, but I don't want to lose my status because I "altered" it in someway that would remove it from being trademarked

    Is it possible to revise and re-upload a better logo that's the correct aspect ratio for USPTO? I'm not changing anything about it, just the ratio. I can't find a clear response online. If so, how would I proceed?

    I'm not sure why the USPTO keeps changing the way the logo looks once I upload it to check out from their side. It looks fine on my end but then uploading it, it usually comes out squished together, etc.

    submitted by /u/ILoveUBernie
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    HOA messed up on a property lien because of an incorrect legal description

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 09:27 AM PST

    I am executor of an estate and am currently less than a week away from closing on the sale of a property owned by the decedent. The HOA of said property had supposedly put a lien on the place, but the title company told me they couldn't find one when they ran a search.

    After doing a bit of digging I discovered they did file a lien... but they used the wrong legal description of the property. If the sale goes through without them realizing their mistake, are they SOL or would they be able to get the lien money through other means? (Note: enough time has passed that no creditors are able to place anymore claims against the estate).

    The lien placed was from unpaid HOA dues ($1200), and fines (around $7000 from a daily $25 charge over 10 months for trivial infractions regarding small repairs not made on the home.)

    Before I found out about their mistake, I had put in a request to have the fines portion of the lien waived, or reduced. The board unanimously declined it and didn't give much of an explanation why.

    I believe if they do end up getting the 7k from the bogus fines, it will 100% just line their pockets. No actual damages were done, except for maybe the home looking slightly less aesthetically pleasing to passersby...?

    There are a lot more issues and shady details surrounding this whole ordeal, but I would rather not disclose them publicly. I'm mainly concerned about covering my bases regarding the potential fallout from their lien fudge up.

    TLDR; I'm executor of an estate and am selling a property that will close next week. HOA intended to put a lien on it, but used the wrong legal description so no lien showed up on the title.

    Hypothetically, if they realize their mistake before closing would they be able to correct it that quickly? And if not, what recourse, if any, will they have to recover the lien amount? (The time has passed for creditor claims against the estate so they can't go that route).

    submitted by /u/honeybuns1349
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    A teacher at my school opened her door behind me while I was backing into my parking spot

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 06:12 PM PST

    Hey, so just as reference, I'm junior in high school and live in Delaware. Last Friday, I was backing into my parking spot like I normally do, and while I was about halfway into my spot, a teacher who was parked next to me opened her door. By the time I saw it in my backup camera, it was already too late and I tapped the door. It was only a little scuff so I wasn't too bad, but I still want it fixed.

    She said that she didn't want to get insurance involved since it's only a small thing, so I gave her my dads number to call to settle things. When she called my dad, it was actually my schools detective who was on the line, and he was saying that he might want to write up a report for the accident. The detective is saying that it is either my fault or shared fault, even though the only person who he has talked to is my teacher.

    As far as I know, there aren't any cameras that could've caught the accident since I was parking in the back corner of the lot. I wasn't going fast at all since I was parking, and there was nothing I could've done to avoid the accident since there was no way I could've known that she was about to open her door.

    I'm supposed to talk to her/the school detective on Monday about where to go from there. I can't see how I would possibly be at fault. What should I do and where should I go from here? Are there any other similar cases to what has just happened to me that I can read up on? Any information would be extremely helpful, thank you!

    submitted by /u/XKOAx222
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    [FL] Should I sue the landlord written on the lease, or the trust that owns the property?

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 05:02 PM PST

    I rented a house in Florida on a written month to month arrangement. My former landlord is claiming my entire security deposit for failure to give notice prior to leaving. I did give the required notice via certified mail and 30 days in advance. It's been 30 days since I objected to the security deposit claim via certified mail with no contact from the landlord. I'm planning to file a small claims suit.

    The notice addresses for the above are local to Florida. Unbeknownst to me until after our move, the landlord and his agent hire people to receive their mail and do not reside here. Property appraiser records indicate the house is owned by "LANDLORD'S NAME TRUST" with an address in Ontario. The lease lists "LANDLORD'S NAME" as well as the name of his agent and property manager who I primarily dealt with while living there. The property was transferred from the landlord to his trust with a "QUITCLAIM DEED" just prior to my occupancy.

    I'm worried about my ability to recover anything from a foreign landlord if I prevail. One option would be placing a lien on the property. Should I sue the landlord, his trust, or both? Does it matter? What other options might I have for recovering funds?

    submitted by /u/Neolyth
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    Landlord passed away last Thursday, now what?

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 07:43 PM PST

    So my landlord, who was also a good friend, passed away on January 16th,2020 from pancreatic cancer. His house and ours is about 50 feet away from each other and on the same piece of land. Here's where it gets frustrating. He apparently had no will and even though he mentioned numerous times that he was going to put the property into a trust so we wouldn't have to worry if anything happened to him, it seems like that probably didn't happen either. His next of kin is his sister that lives in Las Vegas (we are in Idaho). I've tried reaching out to her to see what all is going to happen next (she's also a lawyer) but calls and texts to her have gone unanswered. I know she's supposed to come up here at some point, but no idea when.

    We have been renting this place since June of 2015. We paid rent weekly (worked out better for us and the landlord). At this point, we have zero idea who we are supposed to be paying rent to. We were just walking over to his place each Friday and paying cash and visiting for a bit and that was that. My understanding is that without a will, this will go through probate which is lengthy. And they usually have someone in charge of that account that will collect rent while things are getting figured out. No one has gotten ahold of us at all. So I'm not really sure what to do from here. For the time being I have just put this week's rent into a separate savings account since I have no idea who to give this money to.

    Any advice or tips on this would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

    submitted by /u/Blackrainbow2013
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    Stolen eBook, how do I handle it?

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 04:03 AM PST

    I published a book back in September, and I've recently found that the ebook version was stolen and uploaded, in full, to a website. I downloaded the file and checked it myself (after scanning it for viruses) and sure enough, it is my complete ebook.

    I've had a lot of BS to deal with this year. I've lost three family members, I'm about to lose another, I've been sick for basically the entire year, and I work ungodly hours for minimum wage (yay, retail). This is the last thing I need to deal with right now, and I'm sure plenty of people would let it go because everyone gets their content stolen at some point, but I feel violated and I'm sick and tired of the universe shoving me down and kicking me nonstop. This book took 10 years of my life to work on.

    I have never filed a DMCA notice, and these types of sites make it a headache to do so. I've heard that I can get royally screwed in filing a DMCA takedown "incorrectly," so what options do I have here? How does someone who has absolutely no experience with this proceed without hurting themselves in the process?

    Edit: Forgot to mention that I'm in California.

    submitted by /u/IdRatherBeADrow
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    Fired for voicing workplace safety concerns.

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 07:11 AM PST

    Location is Texas.

    I worked in a small printing shop for the last 3 months. There were no fire extinguishers or escape plans. The machinery was extremely old (1970s and older) without any safety guards. One of the machines repeatedly caught FIRE during use when paper would get stuck inside. To fix it, we had to insert a metal prong inside the machine to remove the paper. There were multiple chemicals (ink, IPA, lubricants) left sitting open. There are multiple electrical outlets that are exposed that spark and occasionally trip the breaker. The list goes on.

    I voiced some of these concerns to employer last Thursday. He fired me without providing any reason yesterday. I am assuming it was in connection to my complaint as he would not provide me any other reason.

    Do I go to OSHA? Do I report him to the Better Business Bureau?

    submitted by /u/throw6976
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    A Californian vendor took $135K as a down payment for an equipment line (40% of the total), and he didn’t deliver. How do I sue him/his company? I’m in Texas.

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 08:15 PM PST

    We've tried making arrangements with the vendor, we've tried seeking legal help in Texas, our lawyer has sent formal "sue threats" (idk what to call it). The vendor is uncooperative, and we don't know how to go about suing him. He's made the equipment, but refuses to sell it under our terms. Our terms are simply to deliver after we've paid 90%, and we would pay 10% once the equipment is installed. We've had this problem from 13 months. We don't have money to invest in lawyers who may not have the authority to solve this, how will this process work? Can I sue from Texas? Do I sue from California? If so, can I sue in California as a Texan? What kind of lawyer should I be looking for? Help.

    EDIT: Sorry, I forgot to include that. (I've never needed legal advice, and I tried to be concise) I took out an SBA loan, and my mistake was not signing any contract with the vendor. Vendor's terms were 40% upon order, and 60% before delivery. His estimated delivery time was 6-9 months (started in August 2018). After 12 months, we started "putting pressure" on him, but to no avail.

    submitted by /u/elequalsdel
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    Building Manager is trying to get me (a resident) to register for a small business license in a live/work unit.

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 11:28 AM PST

    I have lived in my apartment in San Francisco for just over 8 years. I love my apartment and have done everything I can to be a responsible tenant. I always pay my rent on time, I keep communal spaces and equipment that I use clean, I report security incidents, take care of my apartment, the whole shebang.

    The building I live in is combination live/work, so there are some units with residents, some with businesses (more of the former I believe). The building is not rent controlled because it was built after the cut-off date per SF rental laws.

    ​

    On January 9th, 2020, I was sent an email from our Building Management (who are historically difficult to communicate with) that informed me of the following:

    "As you know, [my building] is a live/work building under city planning code. With the new year the city is now asking that one tenant in each unit hold a business license in compliance with the live/work code.
    {They then provide a link for registering and a link to this site for more info}

    Please note that we will reimburse you for the $104 minimal filing fee when you provide proof of filing and payment.
    Additionally, we are offering a one-time $200 rental credit for the month of March when you send us a copy of a valid Business Registration Certificate for your unit no later than January 31, 2020."

    ​

    I was prepared to register, as the note made it sound obligatory, but upon further inspection and some cursory Google searching, I had some questions and concerns.

    1. I couldn't find anything about this "new requirement" as of 2020 on behalf of San Francisco.
    2. It seemed when I went through the forms that there would be tax implications on me as an individual, and
    3. there didn't seem to be any information for use-cases of residents filing for a business license, which seemed odd, given that there are so many residents in live/work buildings in this city, and it would seem that the rules for those tenants would be slightly different than a business operating out of a live work building.

    When I wrote back with questions along the aforementioned lines and asked to see the new SF requirement and additional info, my landlord wrote back a brief email that simply stated it was listed in Section 6 of my lease that I had already signed. A shot of the section she is referring to.

    She also sent the following: "Fill in the form use your name to apply for it. And put in Sole Proprietorship and Zero gross receipts since you don't have any business. Also for the license start date to use current date (date they are filing application). If back date to the lease date or anything older than 30 days, it may generate additional filing fees."

    ​

    Based on this section, it seems like the regulation applies to Live/Work units that operate a business out of the unit and have a certain portion of the space dedication to the work/business- neither of which apply to me or my unit.

    I responded to my landlord noting that I don't operate a business or work out of my apartment and asked for more information. I have not heard back. My questions at this point are:

    • Does this registration requirement actually apply to me as a resident in a live/work space even if I don't operate a business/work out of the apartment?
    • I can't find this new legislation anywhere! Is this actually a new requirement in San Francisco, or are they completely making this up?
    • If I *do* file for a business license, will there be long-term tax implications and fees for me as an individual? Will I now run a business?!

    DO I HAVE TO DO THIS? Any help here would be much appreciated.

    submitted by /u/maulboxbasekill
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    Can a federally funded university force students to take a class about a specific religion?

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 06:45 PM PST

    A family member just was accepted to college to pursue a nursing degree. After getting through all the paperwork, we found that the college is forcing an pre-requisite class in Christian Biblical studies, as well as a Christian history class.

    I was under the impression that a university that accepts federal funding cannot force students to take religious based classes.

    I did some research on the subject, but cannot find a legal precedent on this. Does anyone here know the answer?

    submitted by /u/Rauchster
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    Testifying on my roommate's behalf in custody dispute

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 05:50 PM PST

    I currently am the roommate of a 30 something woman in Oregon, who up until recently had half time custody of her 14 year old son. The son would be at our place for a week, then at his dad's for a week. I'm not super close with them, as I have a super busy schedule and am an introvert, so when I'm home I'm most often in my private room with the door shut.

    A few months ago, a cop came to our house and talked to the mother and son as the son had apparently threatened to slit his wrists while at school. The mom informed me after and we pulled all of the knives/sharp things out of the house as a precaution. A couple days ago, my roommate told me that her ex had reported her to CPS for leaving sharp things around the house and passing out drunk with her boyfriend while the son is there. As of right now, apparently the roommate's only allowed supervised visits with the son. She asked me if I would be willing to testify on her behalf in a couple weeks, since I live in the same space and am somewhat aware of the general household environment.

    After the initial suicide threat we pulled all of the knives/sharp things out of the house, including everything in the kitchen, plus my own personal sharp things from my room. During my 10 months living with them, I know the mom and boyfriend have had a few heavy drinking nights, but to my recollection it's only happened when the son is staying with his dad.

    I want to help her, but have never testified for anything before and am kind of nervous about it. Is there anything I should know or do before testifying? Do I need to consult with her lawyer beforehand or check in with my own attorney?

    submitted by /u/Trash_Identity
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    Owner of a Bar Posted My Friends Names, D.O.B, and Addresses Online

    Posted: 25 Jan 2020 06:28 AM PST

    A few buddies of mine went to a bar at my college. They must have been overly drunk and reckless because the bar owner is now filing a restraining order against them. The question I have results from the fact that the bar owner stated he will do this along with posting the footage to YouTube all in an online Google review. In this review that anyone can see, he posted the full names, date of births and full home addresses of my friends that were there. I'm not saying my friends weren't in the wrong (they obviously were) I just don't see how this is something a bar owner should post about in an online review if he's taking legal action. I'm honestly just curious and any help is appreciated. Thank you

    Edit: Location is Wisconsin

    submitted by /u/DidYouSeeMav
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